Ancient Origins
The Monkey King is a legend, one that stretches beyond the realm of Dota.
A mythological figure, his origins lie in tales from centuries ago, stories from ancient Chinese dynasties about a monkey birthed and made from stone. He is most well-known from the tale Journey to the West, a story of a pilgrim’s journey to India, where Sun Wukong acted as a bodyguard in an attempt to redeem himself in the eyes of the gods.
A mischief maker through and through, he made a name for himself as a remarkable warrior, a great sage and an incessant troublemaker whose adventures took him across the land and even to Heaven itself in a quest to prove himself the greatest.
Many games in the MOBA and ARTS genres have their own Monkey Kings, whether true to the story or not, and since The New Journey update, Sun Wukong has joined the Dota 2 roster as well.
The first hero completely new to Dota 2 (i.e not taken from the Warcraft 3 mod), he was teased with a quest event hidden within the original game, where in a similar form to previous version 6.x9 releases, players would collect items and find secrets to unlock a boss, a superpowered version of the hero to come, and try their very best to defeat them.
Less than Humble Beginnings
As for his in-universe introduction, it was close to the lore from which he derives. Sun Wukong is a trickster at heart. A monkey born from stone, the Monkey King journeyed across the land, finding his weapon – a golden-banded size-changing staff – in the hoard of the Dragon King of the Eastern Seas. Making a name for himself and becoming the best warrior of his time was not enough though as he ventured to the underworld through the Narrow Maze, striking his name from the Book of Life and Death to become immortal. He was an ally of demons and battled against Hell and the Heavens, and was even locked in the Eternal Crucible, a furnace that could purge lesser beings of their heavenly powers, only to come out stronger.
Imprisoned and Redeemed
Eventually he was caught and as punishment for his transgressions, he was chained under a mountain by the four Elemental Spirits – Storm, Earth, Ember and their as yet unnamed brother – towards whom he still bears great animosity for his imprisonment.
For 500 years he was pressed upon by earth and stone until the gods came to give him a chance at freedom. It was a chance he eagerly took. He was tasked with accompanying an acolyte on his pilgrimage, protecting him and bringing him home with the relic he was asked to obtain. Successful in his endeavour, Wukong was freed and finally in good standing with the gods. However, rather than put all his mischief making behind him, he just reduced the scale of it, enjoying both freedom and trickery too much to give either up entirely.
Joining the Battle
Eventually, he was brought close to the battleground that would be the site of the War of the Ancients, the central fight that is represented in Dota. However, rather than taking his place within the conflict, he delayed his inevitable arrival, engaging in performances and mock fights to prove that he was the best at a range of different activities. He kept this up, earning himself a fair bit of coin and dazzling audiences with his skill, until a late-night encounter with the Broodmother. Arachnia’s dismissal of him as a “sideshow freak” was a reminder that, as much as he was enjoying himself, Sun Wukong was proving nothing and that he had to take his place on a much bigger and grander stage. A betrayal by his fight promoter, risking Wukong’s life for the sake of greed, along with a lack of morality from his combat partner, who admitted he was willing to kill merely for money, helped to seal the deal. After a few words of encouragement towards a young spectator, he leaped away, ready to demonstrate that he was the almighty Monkey King, the greatest of them all.
A Sign of Change
Sun Wukong is certainly an important addition to the roster as he has links with many of the heroes in-game, as well as teasing the addition of a fourth Elemental Spirit. However, he is also important because of what he symbolizes. The first new hero, this was a sign that the era of Warcraft 3 DotA had finally come to an end and that Dota 2 could finally come into its own and leave the limitations of the old engine behind.
